Legislation seeks to relax restrictions on tracking fake chips

WASHINGTON – Three lawmakers have proposed legislation aimed
at stemming the flow of counterfeit semiconductors into the U.S., a growing
threat to the nation’s national security and critical infrastructure.

The legislation introduced by Reps. Michael McCaul
(R-Texas), Howard McKeon (R-Texas) and William Keating (D-Mass.) seeks to
reverse the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s policy that limits chip makers’
access to photographs of trademarks on suspected fake chips. H.R. 6012 would
again allow chip makers to examine photographs showing identifying information
on suspect chips to determine their authenticity.

The bill’s sponsors said the legislation is designed to stop
the flow of more than 1 million counterfeit chips into the U.S. that
investigators suspect are primarily made in China. More than 2 million
counterfeit or mislabeled chips entered the U.S. in 2010, the lawmakers said.
One technique involves salvaging and repackaging chips from discarded
electronic equipment.

“From brake systems and defibrillators to advanced military
weapon systems, when a product fails because of a counterfeit chip, the consequences
can be catastrophic,” McKeon said in a statement introducing the legislation. “This
bill will fundamentally improve our efforts to stop the dangerous flow of
counterfeit chips onto our shores.”

McKeon is chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
McCaul is chairman of the House Homeland Security Oversight &
Investigations subcommittee.

Industry groups like the Semiconductor Industry Association
praised the legislation, calling the spread of counterfeit chips in weapons,
networks and medical devices a “ticking time bomb.”

The proposed legislation will initially be considered by the
House Judiciary Committee since it raises issues about intellectual property
rights. With lawmakers heading home for vacation later this week and a general
election looming in the fall, it is unlikely the legislation would make it out
of the committee by the end of the current congressional session.

Long overdue. But the last paragraph of the story contains the bad news. It's sad that with the political climate in Washington being what it is and the general election looming (albeit in five months) even a slam dunk issue like this one probably won't get the attention it deserves in a timely manner.

Dylan,
Unfortunately, you are spot on. Even as we gain more visibility and attention with the American MiniFoundry, the sense of urgency within The beltway is pathetic
See you in SF on July 11th !
Loren

When I was working for a division of a very large U.S. company purchasing would buy floor sweepings just to save a buck.
I suspect buying from a reputable supplier and insisted on traceability would go a long way toward at least greatly minimizing this problem.

Entire world should take this kind of steps, to prevent fake chips entering into the design and manufacturing processes. Just a year before I had wasted 2 and half month in troubleshooting one of my design that had a fake chip used in it. At last I got the remedy by changing it buying from other reputed vendor.

The issue can easily be fixed, as Les_Slater said, by buying from reputable source.
If a US based distributor is delivering the counterfeit parts to buyers, they shall be responsible. They can likely be able to go back to the suppliers to get the lost back. This way, any US based distributor will likely buy parts from reputable source. Only reputable suppliers will survive. Isn't it supposed to be how free market works?

To counter this menace, we need an international treaty kind of a thing where all nations will have a uniform licensing policy for parts and chip manufacturers to get an legal undertaking from them that they will not engage themselves in counterfeit parts manufacturing or selling.

I am sure that if there is money to be made then people will find a way! That said, the opposite is true: if there is a way to save money people will be tempted to do so. This law is a no brainer, in fact I am wondering why it is currently illegal? I agree with earlier posts about buying from a reputable distributor and then HOLDING them accountable.

Clearly chip makers know the details of the markings that they apply to chips. Why should there be any restriction on their access to images of counterfeits? It would seem valuable information for them to help detect counterfeits and to enhance the security of the product markings to make counterfeiting those marks more difficult.

The legislation tracking serve GovTrack.us reports that this bill has gained two new cosponsors in the House, Reps. John Dingell (D-Mich.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.).
We have also spoken to a group of entrepreneurs trying to come up with a trusted foundry solution to the fake chip problem and its impact on the military supply chain. The startup is called AmericanMiniFoundry (www.AmericanMiniFoundry.com). The founders report tough sledding so far in their efforts to identify a foundry site. You'll be hearing more from about about AmericanMiniFoundry in the weeks ahead.

I find it very strange that manufacturers wouldn't already have access to those photos. I'm struggling to envision how there could be any intellectual property right issues. It sounds like the photos don't show anything that isn't public information and it's the manufacturer's logo.

I have read so many article of this site in which some of them were very interesting and inspiring.This article has good title with good description.i am very happy that i found this site. I have bookmarked this site to visit again and find out the new post.I just want to say, is a wonderful article http://www.customessaywritingservices.org/